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Fire at vacant Manteca building investigated as arson

Police say this is the thrid fire being investigated as arson since October

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Updated: 9:50 PM PST Nov 16, 2012

Manteca Police DepartmentSOURCE: Manteca Police Department

Fire at vacant Manteca building investigated as arson

Police say this is the thrid fire being investigated as arson since October

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Updated: 9:50 PM PST Nov 16, 2012

MANTECA, Calif. (KCRA) —

The Manteca Fire Department is investigating a string of arsons in the area.

Pictures from the Manteca Fire Department show a 20,000 square-foot vacant appliance store engulfed in flames. It's a blaze fire crews believe was the result of arson.

"The utilities have been disconnected in this building, so there's no electricity, there's no mechanical devices operating in the building itself, so there's nothing else that would start a fire other than somebody going in and accidentally or intentionally starting a fire, " said Battalion Chief Kyle Shipherd.

The Thursday evening fire was the third suspected arson in Manteca since mid-October. While crews can't say for sure that they're connected, they all happened at night in vacant buildings, according to investigators. Neighbors are concerned.

"We're growing concerned that we have somebody who is starting these fires and they are getting increasingly larger. This one is significantly larger than the previous two," said Shipherd.

Just a few miles away fire crews say on October 17, a large shed went up in flames. Crews put out the fire. Then on November 8, flames erupted there again. Investigators say in both of those cases the fires appear to have been started with flammable liquid.

Anyone with information about these cases is asked to call the Manteca Police Department.